BAGE, HELEN

BAGE, HELEN (August 29, 1901-July 26, 1992) was one of the first WOMEN in the United States to own and operate a lighting fixture manufacturing company. Born in Windber, Pennsylvania, to Frank and Susan (Cheek) Bage, she moved with her family to Cleveland as a child. In the early 1920s, Bage began working in the offices of Hinckley Lighting Company, where she later became office manager. Upon Hinckley's death in the 1940s, she opened Bage Lighting Company, though the metals shortages of WORLD WAR II meant that Bage could only operate the company on a part-time basis. While establishing her business, Bage also worked for Jack & Heintz (see LEAR SIEGLER, INC. POWER EQUIPMENT DIVISION). Bage Lighting Company, located first at East 55th Street, later on Chester Avenue, and finally on Cedar Road, eventually served the eastern United States. Bage retired after the company's building was leveled by fire in 1977.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Bage won several amateur TENNIS tournaments. A single woman, she lived in SHAKER HEIGHTS and gardened on her rural property in Hiram, Ohio. She belonged to the Shaker Heights Republican Club and PLYMOUTH CHURCH OF SHAKER HEIGHTS (United Church of Christ). She is buried in Knollwood Cemetery in MAYFIELD HEIGHTS.